


The Witch's Secret

by Arcadian_Skye



Category: Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders
Genre: Fluff, Food mention, Roman whump, if i need to tag anything else let me know, the vaguest of wound descriptions, vague violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-04-19 18:41:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14243436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arcadian_Skye/pseuds/Arcadian_Skye
Summary: Roman was going to regret fighting the dragon witch last minute. He had been careless in more ways than one. Despite that, he found something, or someone, to fight for.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the fanders-family-gift-exchange over on tumblr. I was assigned storytellerofuntoldlegends to give a gift to, so here you go Sage! I really hope you like it! I know it's based off a prompt (which will be at the end to avoid spoilers, makes it more fun and surprising in my opinion), but I might continue it if there's interest? I'm not sure.

Roman slammed shut the door to his kingdom, pulling the drop bar down into place to lock it firmly. With a tired huff, he rest his forehead against the door in exhaustion, standing only by leaning against the solid mahogany of the door bar. He was explicitly ignoring each ache and pain radiating through his body. He had temporarily tamed the dragon witch, essentially beaten her into submission in every way a single human can with a single sword. In other words, he typically annoyed her by knocking his sword against her impenetrable scaled hide until she grew frustrated enough to agree to his terms.

Thomas had been in a bit of a creative slump lately, and it took Roman entirely too long to attribute it to the dragon witch using more and more resources in the imagination. She isn’t something that can be beaten, not in any meaningful way. She was essentially artist block personified, a being pulled into creation so Roman could devise a tangible way to ward off the mental issue. He hadn’t accounted for how powerful such an issue was in the human psyche and how powerful a concept given form could be. Given she was a construct of the mind, not quite a side but still a part of Thomas’ brain, she’s not killable. Defeatable maybe, but fighting individual battles gets exhausting when you know the war can never be won.

Roman had been careless. They had a brain storming session approaching with Joan and Talyn, and he was desperate for ideas. It took too long for him to realize the problem, and in his desperation, hadn’t really considered the fact he had set off to fight the dragon witch mere hours before the scheduled meeting. So he had traveled to her in a blur of speed on horseback, had taken almost no time to assess the situation and her most recent reinforcements, and sped back in daze of pain.

She had been absolutely vicious this time around as well. Normally she was a reflection of his propensity toward grandeur. Her strongholds were typically veritable castles, but this time, it had been a simple cave. A large, heavily reinforced and blocked off cave with limited openings, but simply a cave nonetheless. Usually the doors were dragon sized, but this time around, the door was shaped for her human form. She had always fought in her dragon form previously, but this time, she fought in her smaller form. While she normally fought like a showman with speeches and wit, she had rushed him at the door with her own sword. Under the orange tinted landscape of the setting sun, they had fought without words or pretense, and it was brutal. When she finally kneeled in defeat and agreed to pull back her turf collected for resources, she had tears in her orange slit eyes, raven black hair draping over her face. He fault awful about it, but he simply didn’t have the time to ponder what it all meant. He had rushed home, ignored his own wounds, and pushed his horse harder when the creeping sensation of being stalked tingled up his spine.

He was finally safe at home now, the door between himself and whatever followed him, but he had all of 15 minutes to get himself presentable. To make sure brainstorming went as well as possible, all 4 of them always gathered in the commons to work together in order to ensure Thomas was working at his best.

Muscles aching in protest, he pulled himself together and started moving. Clothing was easy enough to change out, especially in the mindscape, but cleansing himself of dirt, grime, sweat, and blood required more effort. He did his best in the shower before snapping his fingers for new clothes and stepping up to the mirror to style his hair. He looked exhausted, but he’d have to find a way to play it off. With a deep breath to stabilize himself, he left his room and made his way to the commons. He was a few minutes late, but it’s doubtful anyone would actually mind.

Once he turned the corner to the commons, he immediately had to dodge a balled up paper being lobbed in his direction. He shot a quizzical glance around the room. Virgil had a sweater paw pressed to his mouth across the room, failing to suppress laughter. Patton was the closest with his back to him, and Logan was looking wide-eyed between Roman and Patton.

“I can’t even tell who’s projectile that was.” Roman said after a pause, still lingering in the doorway. Virgil immediately broke out into raucous laughter, and Logan turned several shades redder before making an exasperated grunt and flopping onto the couch.

Patton turned to him with a wide smile. “You alright kiddo? You’re a little late.”

“You’re not going to explain what just happened? At all?” Roman cocked an eyebrow. Deflection was too easy with Patton.

“Not even a little bit,” Logan stated, rubbing his face. “We’re all here so let’s get focused, shall we?”

Just like that, everyone settled into a loose circle: Logan and Patton on the couch, Roman in a padded chair, and Virgil on the floor. They were all part of Thomas, so none of them needed some sort of apparatus to know what was going on in Thomas’ conversation with Talyn and Joan. They all knew. Instead, they were all circled around a coffee table with several pages of notes and ideas with blank pages for unexpected ideas.

During the blur of the meeting, Roman rubbed at his eyes. They were 45 minutes into the brain storming session when he distantly noticed he remembered none of it. His eyes couldn't quite focus on the paper he was holding nor the notes he had apparently written based on the pen in his hand. With a shake of his head, he did his best to refocus. A brief look around the room told him no one had noticed, or at the very least, they were all so focused on writing and chatting that no one was looking at him. Somewhere, he heard a tap tap tapping but ignored it. It was probably in his head. The room was certainly spinning enough that he wouldn’t be surprised if he was hallucinating.

“You alright there kiddo?” He blinked and realized Patton had taken the paper from his hand. With a twinge of regret, he discerned the concerned look marring Patton’s face was his fault.

He pulled on his acting skills and plastered on the best smile he could muster. “I’m fine Patton. Perhaps in need of a nap, but that's all.” An exceptionally long nap but partial truths always went over better than total lies (he steadfastly ignored the pique of curiosity and flash of yellow in his head).

“Well go ahead and lie down then. We’re almost done here anyway, and it’s more important that you get some rest.” He blinked at Logan before sighing in defeat. Ah well, he lasted most of it out, and he knows his input was lackluster this time around anyway.

Patton offered him a hand up from his chair with a small smile, but when he took it, the world shifted as he stumbled forward. There was a quiet gasp of “Roman!” from Virgil’s direction, a flash of red, and the world went dark. The last thing he remembered was the crash of a window breaking somewhere.

 

 

The first thing he heard as the darkness lifted was a muted scratching sound against wood and cooing noises coming from… somewhere. Fingers were slowly carding through his hair, and for several moments, he couldn’t be bothered to move. The ambient noises were lulling, the hand in his hair was pillow gentle, and he was comfortably warm. Before he had even decided to go back to sleep, he was already slipping under.

 

 

The next time he woke up, it was due to a pain in his side which demanded to be felt. He was uncomfortably warm but too weak to move, so he simply listened.

“....ould wear off soon.”

“But it’s been so long. This is too long for just a faint.”

“He was injured, Patton. Bleeding and getting infected quickly, unnaturally so. He’ll be okay, give him time.”

“It’s been hours Logan”

“He’s clearly sleep deprived as well. If he’s not awake by tomorrow morning, then we’ll worry. Until then, he’s in good hands. We can take turns watching over him tonight.”

“That’s not fair to Virgil.”

“Virgil is handling the… other situation quite well, it seems. If he could calm down and appreciate the moment, I’d dare say he’d enjoy it.”

A loud, excited gasp filled the room. “Really? Oh, I should go check up on them! Maybe I’ll spy something cute.”

“Take your time Patton. I’ve got Roman for now.”

A quiet click of a door closing, silence, and he was back under.

 

 

Agony whipped up his side and launched him into the world of the awake. With a gasping pant, he tried to sit up, but quickly laid back down when white hot pain laced across his stomach. Even the sparse lighting in his room made his eyes burn. He was absolutely slick with sweat and every muscle felt miserable. He closed his eyes, tried to relax his body, and focused on breathing. He could do this. He could get up.

His momentary meditation was interrupted by quiet murmuring. A deep breath to brace against the light, and he opened his eyes. Sure enough, Logan was leaning back in a chair pulled close to the bed, mouthing words in his sleep. Roman chuckled. He had forgotten Logan would talk in his sleep when particularly tired. With a pang of regret and renewed determination, he tried to move again to prove he was getting better. Still the pain came roaring back in ferocity, and he flopped back onto the bed with a groan.

That was apparently enough to wake Logan, because before he was aware time had passed, a hand was carding through his hair again. With a steady firmness he didn’t know Logan possessed, his back was supported enough for a pill and a glass of water to be pressed to his lips. Without a fight he took the pain killer and downed half the cup of water before he was being settled back down. He was back asleep before Patton had entered the room for his shift.

 

 

This time, it was the light which brought him to the surface of consciousness. The room was alight with the glow of early morning, and the pain in his side was dull. It was still impossible to ignore, but now it was more of an ache than the fire of injury. He blinked a few times and looked around the room. For the first time since yesterday, he was alone. He wasn’t currently soaked in sweat like he was pretty sure he was earlier, but he’d definitely have to do something with these clothes. Someone had put him in pajamas at some point. Peeling himself out of the sheets and into a sitting position, he carefully catalogued how the injury was doing. He poked and prodded at his side a few times before he grew frustrated and took the majority of the bandages off. There was still the black lacing in his veins around the wound, dealt by the dragon witch no doubt. It had obviously receded though, leaving traces up to his chest.

A steadying breath, and he had managed a careful standing position. He was woozy, but it wasn’t too bad. Workable. So carefully, mindful of his own body’s limitations, he slowly made his way out of his room. He had just closed his door, vaguely confused at the claw marks at the bottom, when he heard an excited squeal and was crashed into. He hissed in pain.

“I’m sorry Roman! I was just… was just… you are… you’re awake! And I’m so relieved.” Patton’s eyes were a little glassy, and his hug turned very careful but nonetheless loving.

Roman patted him on the back before stepping back with a soft smile. “Well, I’m feeling much better today padre. Thank you so mu…”

Squealing, a crash, and groans of frustration came from the commons area and kitchen in quick order. Before he could even think to stop himself, Roman was moving to help. There was a sharp tug on his sleeve that wouldn’t normally stop him but brought him to a grinding halt in his condition. He glared back at Patton before schooling his expression into something less hostile before a small sheepish smile crept onto his face.

“I, uh… should probably rest, huh?” he muttered, hand rubbing the back of his neck.

“Yes, doctor’s orders.”

“Logan?”

“He could definitely be a doctor!” Patton exclaimed proudly.

“But he’s not.”

Patton leveled him with a stern but concerned look. “Father’s orders then.”

Roman threw his hands up in surrender before another crash came from the commons. Patton pushed past him before turning back around. “I’ll get you some food, so go back to your room for now.”

“But what’s happening? You’re the one who usually causes kitchen explosions, not so much Virgil or Logan unless there’s a science experiment involved.”

Patton’s eyes flicked rapidly between Roman and the commons for a long moment. “Just… wait here for a moment. I’ll explain,” and then he was gone.

Head tilted back, back against the wall, Roman took a moment to breathe. What on earth was going on? Patton wouldn’t leave his side injured unless it was serious. Should he help? If it was that serious, surely there was something he could do? Another crash sounded down the hall, and again, his body was moving before his mind had decided to. Hero instinct or not, he only wanted to help.  
So when he turned the corner into the commons, the last thing he was expecting was Virgil covered in white from head to toe with a small child on his shoulders. The coffee table which was littered with papers the night before was now covered in flour and baking supplies. Virgil, despite a huff of frustration blowing flour past his lips, was smiling.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time, okay?” Virgil defended.

“But why not the KITCHEN Virgil? That’s what it’s for!” Logan’s hands were helplessly gesturing across the mess.

“I didn’t want her near the kitchen appliances. This was much safer,” Virgil managed to get out around the little girl clinging to his face and giggling.

Patton was trying and failing to muffle his laughter, having whipped out a phone to take a picture. With the flash though came a scream. Of excitement? As the child’s attention was drawn in his direction, standing behind Patton as he was.

She squealed again and fussed wildly to get off Virgil’s shoulder. Patton dropped his phone in a rush to catch her as she broke free of Virgil’s hold, but she landed nimbly on two feet and ducked under Patton’s legs. He moved to stop her, but she dodged him like it was second nature, and in the blink of an eye, she was clinging to Roman’s leg.

“Papa!” Bright orange eyes blinked up at him.

Roman spluttered for words, “Excuse me?”

“Papa!” she declared again.

Bewildered, he looked around the room. Logan had a knowing smirk, Patton practically had stars in his eyes at the cuteness, and Virgil looked… jealous?

“Papa!” She banged on his leg with surprising strength for her size but still nowhere near enough to effect Roman. Strictly by instinct, Roman swooped her into his arms, and oh no…

Bright orange eyes, slitted like a cats.

Long, raven black hair.

Nails a little too long to be considered anything but claws.

And two obsidian horns, starting at her temples and pointing back.

With a huff of disbelief, the world was spinning again and hands were gently guiding him to a chair. She clung to his arm like it was nothing.

The dragon witch. The cave. The vicious fight. No speeches, no bravado, just…

A mother’s determination.

And somehow, this child… this newly hatched human/dragon hybrid, had imprinted on him while he was there.

What on earth was he going to do? What would he say? Should he give her back? What effect would this have on Thomas?

A tiny palm pressed against his cheek, and when he looked at her, wide vulnerable eyes stared back.

“Papa?” Soft, quiet, like a question.

He clung to her, squeezing her tight. “Yes, sweetheart. Papa.” It didn’t matter. She was his now. And he will fight for her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Virgil is a protective bean, Patton is a mature dad, Logan pretends like he can control the situation, and Roman is generally fluffy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize this has taken so long. There's been a handful of medical scares, and my depression generally acting up. But hey, better late than never, I guess.
> 
> Also I've read over this a million times, but there's probably still typos. Forgive me.  
> Also be prepared for a ton of dialogue.

There was a long, heavy pause then…

“No.”

“Excuse me, what did you just say Logan?” Roman did his best to level him with a glare. At least, as well as he could with a child still attached to his lap. She was in one of Patton’s pajama shirts wrapped around her with a small belt like a tunic.

“You cannot keep her.”

“Aaaaw but why not Logan? She’s been so well behaved and sweet and wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a child around her?” Patton gestured wide with excitement but with the biggest doe eyes he could muster.

Logan crossed his arms and explained with exasperation, “She’s still a child that’s not ours, clearly from Roman’s realm, and obviously has something to do with the dragon witch. Given the child made her way here, I can only assume the dragon witch can as well.”

“Plus she like… broke the window. I’m not sure we can handle her,” Virgil pointed out, still brushing flour off his clothes.

Roman’s eyebrows shot up. “She what now?”

“The see through wall was in my way. So I made it not,” the child explained with a bright smile, clearly proud of herself.

Roman shook his head, eyes widened enough to be noticable. “You can talk?”

She exhaled loudly and crossed her arms, her pose amusingly similar to Logan’s. “Yeah, mommy taught me. Of course I can talk.”

Roman asked “What’s your name?” at the same time that Virgil sputtered “Mom? You’ve said nothing about a mom?”

Her tiny clawed hands dug into Roman’s shirt, sharp enough to risk tearing it. With a shake of her head, she nuzzled into Roman’s chest.

A beat of silence, then two. “Izzy. She said her name was Izzy.” This time it was Virgil crossing his arms and looking vaguely annoyed.

Roman gently cupped her chin, tilting it up to look at him. “Okay Izzy. What do you want to do? Would you like to stay here or go back to my realm with your mom?”

Logan groaned. “We can’t just let her decide. She’s obviously separated from her mom, you’re clearly not her dad, and she’s just a child.”

Patton hesitantly raised a hand. “Actually, Lo. We don’t know that. She looks, speaks, and acts like a child, but she’s from Roman’s realm. She could be anything really.”

Izzy shot Patton a dazzling smile, and Patton cooed a little in response. “I wanna do both!” she exclaimed as she clapped her hands together. Her grin quickly turned sheepish. “And I’m hungry.”

In a blink, Patton swooped her up out of Roman’s lap. “Let’s get your breakfast then.” As Patton left the room, he called back “And there will be words about feeding her cookies for breakfast!”

Logan shook his head and sat down on the couch, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I was fixing the window Patton,” he muttered far too quiet for him to hear.

“Eh, Patton has no real space to complain. We all know he’s going to bake her five million cookies so long as she’s here.” Virgil shrugged and plopped onto the other end of the couch.

Roman leaned back, finally relaxing a bit for the first time since he woke up. “So… what now? She wants to see us both. I’m not exactly on good enough terms with her mother to just saunter up and say ‘Hey, your kid that you’ve been protecting like crazy just sorta followed me home’ and expect her to actually believe me.”

“So… she is the dragon witch’s child then? I assumed as much but didn’t want to be incorrect.” Logan was leaning forward now, elbows on his knees and watching Roman keenly.

“I’m almost positive. Everything I know points to it, anyway.”

The three Sides shared glances, no one quite sure how best to address the situation. Patton’s murmuring and banging around in the kitchen was frequently interrupted by giggles or squeals of happiness.

“So… you are her dad then.” Virgil tilted his head toward Roman.

“What!? We don’t know that!” Roman startled.

“It’s true that we don’t know that for sure. Although, as far as we know, there is no other dragon witch or warlock for her to mate with. Since she was birthed in your realm, it’s entirely possible you are the closest thing she has to a father.” Logan was idly cleaning up the baking supplies from the table, stacking them from where he was seated.

Virgil mumbled “Please don’t say birth” at the same time Roman responded “Without a father, she would be created, not birthed, Logan.” Roman and Virgil narrowed their eyes at each other while Logan continued either obliviously or pointedly ignoring their reactions.

“Dragon witch reproduction aside, we need to decide what to do with her. As Roman said, waltzing up to her domain while she is very likely furious, and rightfully so,” Logan paused long enough to give Roman an indistinguishable look before continuing, “So we need a plan. If we’re going to do any sort of back and forth care with Izzy, it’s only fair her mother weigh in.”

Rubbing the back of his neck, Roman looked everywhere but at Virgil and Logan. “I’m… still quite sore, however. I probably shouldn’t be traveling, in all honesty.”

“That’s unusually wise of you Roman.” Virgil snickered at Logan while Roman rested his face in the palm of his hand, mouth quirked in annoyance. “We have time, then. A few days at least. I’m unwilling to let you leave until the black webbing on your chest disappears, and we can be sure whatever poison she attacked you with has passed.”

Virgil stood then. “We should prepare her a proper space then instead of the couch. A bed, at least. Maybe pass her around rooms? She seems to like me, and we probably shouldn’t let the injured one try to take care of her overnight by himself.”

Logan looked briefly between the two before heading toward the kitchen. “You two work this out then. Patton was the one sleeping with her in the commons, so it’s only fair one of you two have her. I’m not interested.

Once Logan left the room, Virgil moved and loomed over Roman’s chair, close enough to Roman’s face that he had to sit up. “Until we know what she is, we need to keep her safe. You can’t promise to do that right now, so she’s staying with me.”

Roman blinked up at him, temporarily silenced by Virgil before breaking up into raucous laughter. Virgil stood up, eyebrows creased at Roman’s reaction.

“You are definitely jealous.”

“What!? No! This is just the most logical thing to do.”

“You adore her. You are wrapped so tightly around her little finger that you might as well be tattooed there.”

“And what about you? With your ‘yes, sweetheart’ earlier. You’re practically puddy in her hands.”

Roman stood up, matching Virgil’s height and leaning in close. “She’s staying with me.”

Virgil wasn’t even remotely intimidated. “Is she now? When you can barely walk for longer than a few seconds? When your hands were shaking while you carried her? Can you really take care of her like you are?”

Roman opened his mouth to argue but paused. He wasn’t out of the woods so to speak, and he really did want the best for her. “We can let her decide; how about that?” A compromise should quell the tension, Roman thought. He wouldn’t have assumed such protectiveness from Virgil, but he supposed Virgil was fight or flight. And he was going to fight for her, it seemed.

With a sigh, he acquiesced. “Fine. But if she chooses you, I’m sleeping in your room.”

Roman smirked. “Ah, so you just wanted to get into bed with me, my chemical romance.”

Virgil smirked back and the tenseness in the room dissipated. “I can see where your mind is. You got something you need to tell us?”

“What? That I’m gay? That’s not exactly a secret.”

“Yeah, sure, narcissus. That’s exactly what I meant. Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Virgil retorted, dripping in sarcasm.

Before Roman could banter back, Patton called from the kitchen. Breakfast was ready, and while it was awkward to sit 5 at a table of 4, they quickly grew comfortable. Izzy was well mannered enough, and despite the initial confusion, the day started smoothly.

Thomas had the day off which meant the Sides didn’t have a schedule for the day. They tried to spend the morning brainstorming how to handle the witch, but Roman clearly wasn’t up to the task. Without Izzy in the room, he had nothing to focus on and would frequently space out of the conversation. Without him, there was simply nothing to go on. No one actually knew the dragon witch but him. Izzy wasn’t terribly forthcoming either. She was far more interested in the toys Patton had conjured for her than relaying information about her mother’s temperament.

So the day passed lazily. Patton teaching Izzy how to cook, Virgil alternating between taking care of her and taking care of Roman, and Roman napping in and out in recovery. Logan spent most of the day researching, planning possible solutions to their problem, and trying to pry what answers he could out of Roman whenever he was lucid.

Dinner time found them around the dining room table, plotting the night and various plans. Izzy squirmed in Patton’s lap, uncomfortable with being held still so long but understanding something important was happening.

“Given the situation, we should move sooner rather than later. I’m not sure what the dragon witch is capable of, but I’ve no desire to learn what she would do should she make her way here.” Logan leveled each of them with a solemn look.

“But I just got heeeeere” Izzy piped up, eyes watery despite her fingers playing with Patton’s cardigan.

Patton started running his fingers through her raven hair. “We just need to find out what your mommy wants, sweetheart. You can come hang out here once we know.”

“What’s the dragon witch’s name anyway,” Virgil asked, head tilted and looking at Izzy.

“Mommy’s name is mommy.” Izzy looked around the room confused.

“No, like you called me papa, and my name is Roman. You call her mommy, but she should have a name too.” Roman reached across the corner of the table to grasp one of her hands that were still ringing Patton’s cardigan.

She scrunched up her face in concentration and spent a few moments thinking. “I think… some of the villagers have called her Nos?”

Virgil snorted and whispered under her breath, “And here I thought her name might be dragon bitch.”

“Virgil!” Patton gasped and covered Izzy’s ears, “Not in front of the child!” Virgil simply smirked in response and Roman choked down a laugh.

“Nos? Well that’s an interesting name.” Logan met Izzy’s eyes before scratching something down on paper, ignoring Virgil and Patton’s outburst. “I should research that. Maybe there’s something in her name that will help us approach her.” He clicked his pen a few times before addressing everyone. “We should head out tomorrow I think, but take our time traveling given Roman’s condition and the fact we’d have a child with us.”

“She ran to us in literal hours Logan” Virgil shot Logan a quizzical look.

“I understand that and took that into account, but I still rather not push her limits. If we show up to the dragon witch, I’m sorry, Nos, with her child exhausted, things could only go worse than they already could go.”

Roman waved his hand dismissively. “I have horses we can take. I’m experienced enough to ride them even in my condition, but if comfort is a concern, I can just as easily attach a carriage. I can only assume none of you know how to ride a horse anyway.”

Izzy’s “But I like horses” was interrupted up by Logan’s “Are we agreed to head out in the morning then?”

“How about noon, Logan? Give me some time to pack some food and drinks in the morning.” Patton shot a glance at Izzy, Roman, and then the kitchen before looking back to Roman. “How long should this trip take anyway?”

“Noon would have us arriving after dark. If we could leave mid-morning, we would get there just before sunset if we were going a leisurely pace.”

“And what if she’s hostile? We can’t just assume we can walk up to her and compromise” Virgil glared a bit at Roman before turning to Logan. “We can’t risk anyone getting hurt.”

“Then we use the child as a hostage to force the dragon witch to come out and compromise.” Logan stated matter-of-factly.

Virgil spluttered, “Excuse me!? How is that a good idea?”

“I’m with Virgil on this one Logan, we need a good relationship with her.” Patton stopped running his hands through Izzy’s hair and wrapped his arms around her.

“I trust a mother will do her best to keep her child from injury. If she’s hostile from the start, then there aren’t a whole lot of options to establish a positive relationship anyway. We need to talk.” Logan scribbled down a few more notes.

“All things considered, she’s actually pretty reasonable. Just because we fight doesn’t mean she’s a savage. We just… intensely disagree.” Roman ran a hand through his hair. “I think it’s a decent enough approach.”

“The hell Roman? Intensely disagree? You’ve come back from her bloody more than once!” Virgil leaned forward across the table. “I won’t risk you or her.”

Roman simply laughed. “Rough housing, I assure you.”

Virgil threw his hands in the air, and Logan leveled Roman with a glare. Roman continued oblivious, “Yes, we fight a lot. But at the end of the day, I need her, and she knows it. I need a way to conceptualize writer’s block in such a way that I can guarantee progress on projects. And she lives in my realm, needs my resources and land to simply exist. We’re at odds, yes, but neither of us would kill the other.”

Patton nodded, making up his mind. “I think we should leave in the morning then. I agree that a mother wouldn’t risk a child any more than I would as a father figure. She also wouldn’t risk herself knowing that she had a child needing care. I think it’s a safe bet. I don’t like the idea of using any person as a hostage, but… it’s a last resort. I don’t want to keep her from her mom.”

“I can… talk to mama, if you need me to.” Izzy shifted off Patton’s lap and stared at the floor, wringing her hands in each other. “I want this to go good too. I want everyone to be happy.”

Everyone’s faces softened a bit at her words. A moment passed before Roman spoke up. “Thank you for being so brave, little one.”

She smiled bashfully, then climbed her way into Roman’s lap.

Sighing in defeat, Virgil scrubbed at his face. “Tomorrow then, I guess. What about tonight? Who do you want to be with Izzy?”

She nibbled on her claws for a moment before nodding, “I dun wanna hurt papa, and papa needs someone to watch him over night. I think Uncle Virgil should sleep with papa.”

Virgil smiled at being called uncle until he realized what she said and turned several shades red. Roman coughed out a laugh and squeezed her in his lap. “We’ll arrange… something, I’m sure. Right Virgil?”

He recovered enough to stumble out, “Yeah sure,” before getting up and leaving the table.

Patton shrugged, “Guess we’re adjourned then.”

Nodding, Logan collected his papers. “I’ll do a bit more research tonight, but I think this is an acceptable course of action.” He left for his room.

Patton and Roman shared a look before looking at Izzy. “Let’s set up a room then, okay Izzy?” Patton offered her a hand out of Roman’s lap which she daintily took up. With a bit of a groan, Roman stood to follow. Missing Patton’s worried look, Roman led the way to his room.

That night found Roman in his bed, Izzy curled up against him, and Virgil situated on the floor in a makeshift mattress Roman conjured and Patton perfected.

Izzy sighed into the quiet of the room. “I miss mama…”

Virgil opened his arms, and she crossed the room to sit on his mattress. “You’ll see her tomorrow, I promise.” She nodded, wrapping herself around a pillow, and nestling in to sleep. 

Both Roman and Virgil had a hard time sleeping, overcome with a sense of longing neither of them could pin. After tossing and turning for several hours, Izzy sound asleep, Virgil sat up and sighed, running a hand through his hair and scrubbing at his eyes. Roman watched him until Virgil looked up, then shrugged at Virgil’s concerned look. With a sigh, he motioned Virgil over and scooted to the side of the bed. With a gentleness Roman rarely saw out of the Side, Virgil picked up Izzy and placed her in the bed before slipping under the covers himself. The proximity did little to ease the tension, this wistfulness they couldn’t ignore in the quiet dark of night, but at least they both felt a little less alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of those aforementioned medical scares are still going on, so the next update could be in the next week or the next month. I'm sorry. I'm doing my best. I'm tentatively planning four chapters. Might be shorter or longer, we'll see.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a rough morning, a long trip, and an exotic land end in a tense meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mostly sorta proof read. Please forgive any mistakes.

Leaving in the morning had been an… ordeal. While Logan had set forth a reasonable plan for departure, he hadn’t quite accounted for getting a child ready. Izzy was well behaved when asked to do something (at least by Roman, sometimes by Virgil), but she lacked a basic understanding of some simple principles. Rather, she didn’t seem to understand human frailty.

Once she woke up and was cognizant of her surroundings, she was absolutely ecstatic, beside herself at the idea of seeing her mom again, thrilled for her mom and “dad” to meet, and hopeful at the idea of her mom meeting her new friends. In said excitement, she didn’t realize Virgil was not a morning person nor that Roman was still very much injured. So while Patton had gotten up on time to prepare food for the trip and Logan explicitly woke up early enough to wake up both Virgil and Roman a few times, he was wholeheartedly unprepared for the wrecking ball of energy that was Izzy. She immediately decided to jump on Virgil upon standing, knocking him over because he wasn’t awake enough to prepare for it. Naturally, Virgil promptly hit his head on a table, because probability was constantly against him. Before Logan even had a chance to care for Virgil or calm the obviously upset Izzy, she jumped on Roman’s stomach seeking comfort, who was still in bed and trying to sit up around the pain in his side. To Roman’s credit, he didn’t scream, but he groan loudly in pain. In the blink of an eye, Logan was standing in front of two injured Sides and a crying child before they’d even eaten breakfast.

Thankfully, the rest of the morning did go as smoothly as could be expected after such a start. Logan sent Izzy off to Patton who comforted her and distracted her with making breakfast. While rewrapping Roman’s side, Virgil checked himself to make sure he wasn’t bleeding. Aside from a massive headache, he appeared to be more or less fine. Roman was still a touch too pale and a bit feverish, but the the black veins from the wound in his side had retreated to a hand breadth in size. So they ate, packed, stepped through Roman’s door to his kingdom, and found themselves in a small, one room cottage.

“You know, I was really expecting like… a castle and subjects and a city. Not, like, a shack,” Virgil said dryly, one hand in his hair and the other holding Izzy’s hand.

Roman huffed, exhaustion weighing down his words, “I’m a king here, Virgil. A king suddenly appearing is a cause for commotion. So when I go home to where we live, I tell my royal cabinet I am leaving on a trip and come here. It’s… easier for me than trying to explain anything else.”

“That’s… surprisingly reasonable of you,” Logan explained while simultaneously stepping toward the door.

“You do realize creativity takes some logical thinking Logan, right?” Roman cocked an eyebrow at Logan’s retreating form, hands bracing his side.

“It’s too early for a snark fest kiddos. Let’s get on the way first. I think you said something about horses Roman? Where are they?” Patton adjusted the backpack of food, trying not to hover over Roman’s obvious discomfort.

Logan simply gestured out the door where a stable with two horses was in obvious sight, a blue sky and green rolling hills in the distance. Grazing together stood a white stallion and a red mare, obviously well taken care of. What Logan didn’t see, however, was a carriage.

“Two horses, Roman? We’ve already discussed that you can’t ride right now, and I see no carriage,” Logan inquired, looking back at Roman still clutching his side gently. In response, Roman simply walked out the door without a word. Logan, Patton and Virgil all met eyes briefly, and Virgil simply shrugged before following suit. Izzy was blessedly silent, still a little wary after the morning’s mess.

Roman had started humming quietly by the time they approached him to the side of the stable, eyes closed and hands gesturing in movements none of them recognized. On the ground in front of him was a small sapling. It took a few moments, but slowly the sapling started to grow, twisting and turning, branches growing then winding around each other in an elegant display, the creaking of their growth in time with Roman’s humming. It took a moment for the other sides to realize what was happening, but in short working order, the sapling was taking the rough shape of a large carriage. Four more sapling rose up from the ground, similarly winding themselves into perfect circles, then spokes, before settling onto the axles of the carriage. It all started to flatten out into more refined shapes when Roman suddenly started coughing, and everyone was abruptly pulled from their trance. Both Patton and Virgil rushed forward as Roman doubled over in pain, Izzy left a few steps behind Logan.

“Roman, are you okay?”

“Kiddo, what’s wrong?”

Only Logan heard Izzy’s quiet, “Is daddy okay?”

Roman stood up a bit straighter, hand vaguely waving in reassurance. “I’m fine, just not in the best of shape apparently.”

Virgil’s, “I could’ve told you that,” was overpowered by Patton’s, “Don’t push yourself, this is fine.”

“I had assumed that you would just… poof something into existence. Much like we switched appearances in the blink of an eye in our previous video,” Logan finally walked forward to join the other three, ignoring Izzy grabbing the back of his shirt and following.

Roman coughed again. “Again, there’s some logic to creativity Logan. Something from nothing is infinitely harder than slowly crafting and designing a piece of art.” Roman shot Logan a look that was meant to be a glare but came off as tired exasperation.

“That… makes sense, in a way. As Patton said, this is more than sufficient though. Thank you.”

“Let’s just get started. We have a long, beautiful trip ahead of us with an exciting destination! This is absolutely beautiful Roman,” Patton beamed in Roman’s direction who still had Virgil standing next to him, one hand hesitantly rubbing his back.

 

Roman started moving towards the stables before Virgil pulled him back, a serious look on his face. “Rest, Roman. Since you made them, I’m assuming these two can suffice to pull the carriage. We can hook them up. Just go sit down.” To everyone’s mild surprise, Roman did so without complaint.

Thus, the trip started. A significantly paler Roman sat in the middle between Virgil and Izzy with Patton and Logan on the outsides of the carriage. The hill side was gorgeous, the sky bright blue, and a cooling breeze followed them along a roughly hewn path. The conversation was easy, comfortable, even Izzy relaxed back into her typically chipper demeanor. After an hour, they passed through a lush green forest which abruptly ended onto the scene of a striking castle in the distance surrounded by villages and people running about their daily business. Their destination, however, was much farther away.

The farm fields of the kingdom gave way to menacing jungle laced with thorns and bramble, no clear beaten path to follow. By that point, they were a few hours into the trip, and Roman was well asleep. They were quietly discussing what to do when Izzy simply stood and leaned over the front of the carriage, forming a path with a wave of her hand. As the others sat dumbfounded, she smiled sweetly, shrugged, and sat back down.

The tree line eventually broke to dry, cragged land. The dirt blew dust devils in the distance with very little vegetation to protect the land. In the heat of the day, still surrounded by thirsty land, they paused long enough to gently shake Roman awake, eat the lunch Patton had made earlier and passed plenty of water around. They continued, and eventually the sparse plants disappeared entirely and the dry ground grew darker and darker until it was black entirely. The conversation grew more tense as an uneasiness from Roman started to infect the group. The longer they traveled, the tenser Roman became and the more concerned he looked, brows knit together in either concern or concentration. By late afternoon, early evening, they could see a black mountain growing in the distance, dominating the horizon.

However, the land again grew moist as they grew near. Dark green, almost blue grass started to cover the ground, and trees with russet wood and black leaves provided brief moments of shade. The world here was undoubtedly under some sort of dark influence, but it was still sophisticated, graceful in a way. Conversation slipped away as a quiet sort of awe settled on three of the Sides. Roman’s hands were in tight fists in his lap, a stark contrast to the peaceful smile that Izzy gave the life of her home.

Unlike near Roman’s kingdom, there were creatures here. Wine red deer drank from cobalt blue streams. Plum purple squirrels skittered across emerald grass. Rust and flame red birds flew and sang low, sweet songs. It was alive in a way Roman’s side of this world was not. Just as one of them considered asking why, they entered a clearing in front of a large yawning cave several stories in height. The entrance was guarded by a wall at least ten feet in height made of glossy black wood.

The Sides started climbing out of the carriage silently, scared to breach the peace in the air blowing through the trees. Izzy hopped over the front of the carriage and sprinted for the door before skidding to a halt, rocking forward and back on her feet. Slowly, the Sides walked up behind her, sharing uneasy glances. Logan gestured for Roman to say something, so he stepped forward, hands twitching for the sword he chose not to bring as a sign of peace.

Roman declared, “Dragon witch! I’ve come to speak with you!” Virgil snorted at Roman, who quickly followed with, “Peacefully! Speak… peacefully.” An uneasy pause, before Roman shuffled his feet and sighed. “Please?”

“Momma! Pwease? I love you!” Izzy squeaked.

There was a long pause as the wind picked up momentarily, then the gate opened without a sound. With barely a whisper of movement, a tall woman stepped out, covered in a knee length, blood red tunic. Without a word, she walked forward, head held high, raven black hair framing her face perfectly, and a regal tilt to her shoulders. She wore no shoes, but she didn’t need to with humanoid draconian feet covered in black scales that gave way to human colored skin at her knees. A sword that looked like it was made of anodized titanium sat on her hip without a scabbard but thankfully not in her hands. Eyes as orange as the sun stared them all down as she stopped a respectful distance away. They flickered briefly to Izzy where they softened to a smile before snapping back up to narrow at Roman specifically. The child took that as a sign, sprinting toward her mom and practically wrapping herself around her leg, smile as bright as her mother’s eyes. She didn’t move an inch aside from placing her hands on her hips.

With a heavy sigh, Roman spoke, “I was not aware you were…”

The dragon witch cut in, voice as cold as ice. “You stole my child and have the audacity to show your face,” she hissed, crimson lips parted into a sneer.

“In his defense, miss, Izzy came of her own volition.” Patton stated shakily, nervousness uncharacteristically peeking through Patton.

She smiled sweetly down at her daughter, her entire body language shifting at the sight of her daughter. “Is this true, Issy?” She nodded her head vigorously in response, head still plastered to her mother’s leg.

Virgiled muttered, “Issy?” but was again spoken over by Logan this time.

“Yes. Roman returned to us injured and just as your poison took hold of him, she broke through the window.”

Virgil coughed loudly and quickly tried to recover. “Not that we’re saying you’re at fault?” his anxiety tilting the end of his question particularly high.

Logan nodded, “Your daughter desires for you and Roman to get along as well as permission to visit both parents. May we step inside to discuss terms, Nos?”

She scoffed, something not quite a smile on her face. “That’s not quite my name, nor do I have a table to discuss at. A dragon doesn’t typically have need of furniture.” She quirked her eyebrow in amusements. “Nice to know your dear Roman still can’t be bothered to remember my name despite breaking into my side of the world, attacking a recovering mother and…”

Roman cleared his throat before she could continue into a spiel. “My apologies. I should have assumed that the life of your land indicated a new life of power here.”

At Roman’s words, her eyes once again narrowed. “So you’ll recognize she has power but won’t acknowledge my name.”

Roman bowed without missing a beat. “What then, is the name of my rival? And the daughter of my world?”

“Is it not Izzy?” Virgil tilted his head, glancing back and forth between the dragon witch and Roman.

A laugh like bells broke from the dragon witch. “Yes, Virgil of the Realm of Anxiety. Names have power and are indicative of who that person is. Your name Anxiety gave way to Virgil as you came into your own. My name too sprouted from what I represent. My daughter, still being young, has not a name proper but a title indicative of what she represents.”

Patton smiled, relaxing a bit with her laughter. “You know a lot, miss. What is your name? And just who are you?” He paused for a moment, thinking. “Izzy,” he paused then corrected himself, “Sorry, Issy, said your name is Nos?”

She smiled at each of the sides, her lips tilting into a smirk at Roman. She opened her mouth but paused as her daughter climbed onto her back before scrambling atop her shoulders, bracing herself by grabbing the small, black horns hidden amongst her mother’s silken hair. Patton briefly noted her smile was that of pride at her child.

“My name is Somnus, the Roman god of sleep. I am not, in fact, artist’s block as Roman so desperately wants to believe. I am the rest Thomas requires but ignores in pursuit of creativity.” She gently placed her hands on her daughter’s knees and tilted her head back as if to look at her. “Issy is short for Wistfulness, born of the desire to create when one cannot.”

Logan paused, confusion clear in the crease of his brow. “Are you and Issy Sides then? If you desire, it would only be fair to make room for you at the house.”

Somnus shook her head, posture relaxing. “Not as you are thinking. My daughter and I are more akin to Sides of Roman than that of Thomas.” She gestured wide, one hand keeping her daughter steady. “I’ve crafted my world into a place of beauty for her to grow and become herself. This is our home and where we belong. Although, I do appreciate the generosity Logan of the Logical Realm.”

Issy nuzzled the top of her mother’s head. “But I wanna go places momma. I wanna see papa and Uncle Virgil and Friend Patton and Grumpy Logan and the castle and the village and the whole entire world! I want to fly and make friends with the birds and the squirrels. I can’t do that in the cave! I like that you’ve made me a bed cause I’m not a big dragon like you, but there’s so much more mommy!” She huffed into her mother’s hair. “It’s not fair. I’m so little and the world is so big.”

Somnus rubbed her brow for just a moment before lifting her daughter over her head and placing her on the ground. “Is this really what you want, dear one?” Issy nodded rapidly.

“Can we truce, then? For Issy’s sake?” Roman’s posture finally relaxed as well, genuine curiosity expressed in the tilt of his head.

She closed her eyes briefly, considering while a breeze gently played with her hair, before opening them again with a somber stare. “Do you desire this? All of you.”

Roman smirked, a hint of his typical demeanor showing through. “I would find that agreeable, I suppose.”

Virgil piped up next, “She’s a literal ray of sunshine; of course, we’d like to see her.”

With a tilt of his head, Logan conceded, “I could learn a great deal from her, I think.”

Patton cooed, wiggling his fingers at Issy who blushed a bit in response. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Somnus took a deep breath before nodding. “Well. I suppose a truce can be made for her sake then. Perhaps we should discuss this at your house and draw up an agreement in writing.”

With a short snicker and a smile, Logan responded, “A contract? Perhaps we can get along better than I thought.”

Both Roman and Virgil groaned at the idea of another Logan before Patton piped up with a cheerful, “Of course!”

A wicked smile slowly spread across Somnus face, “And there will be hell to pay if my daughter is injured in your presence.”

Roman answered with a royal tilt of his head, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eventually, I will go 30 days without myself or someone I know ending up in the hospital. I think for my next fics, I'll write out the entire thing so all I have to do is proof read before posting.
> 
> There are reasons for the differences between Roman and Somnus's sides of the creative realm, but that's an explanation for another fic if anyone's interested. Also, I thought about some big fight, and that's one of the reasons this took so long. After thinking about it a long time, I don't think this fic was ever going to end any other way. Somnus was always supposed to be a fierce but collected individual, and Issy was never going to tolerate any sort of fighting. So I know it's not a big flashy ending, but this feels more right than trying to force an unnatural climax. I hope it was enjoyable, and again, I'm so sorry this took so long.
> 
> Keep an eye out for other stuff I'm writing. I've got a D:BH fic, an Avengers fic, and a short story for my novel in the works. I'm not opposed to Sander Sides requests if anyone wants to propose one.
> 
> Love you guys. Thank you so much for your support.

**Author's Note:**

> So there you go! I'm rather fond of the new addition, and I've placed things to continue this if so desired. So let me know!
> 
> Original prompt:  
> Roman faces off against the Dragon Witch and returns home from the battle super injured and tries to hide it, and to make things worse, the dragon-witch's baby hatched and thinks Roman is its mother. (Also if Prinxiety could be worked in, that would be lovely)


End file.
